[:Volume XXVII
T H E CHICAGO BANKER
10
The Wisconsin National Bank
OF MILWAUKEE
CAPITAL $2,000,000 ־ SURPLUS -	1,000,000
OFFICERS
L.J. PETIT, President	HERMAN F. WOLF, Cashier
FRED’K KASTEN, Vice-President	L. G. BOURNIQUE, Asst. Cashier
CHAS. E. ARNOLD, 2nd Vice-President	W. L. CHENEY, Asst. Cashier
WALTER KASTEN, Asst. Cashier
DIRECTORS
L.J. Petit	Frederick Kasten	R. W. Houghton	Oliver C. Fuller
Herman W. Falk	Geo. D. Van Dyke	Custave Pabst	Charles Schriber
Isaac D. Adler	H. M. Thompson	Patrick Cudahy
Wisconsin Trust Company
MILWAUKEE
CAPITAL $500,000 ־ - ־ SURPLUS -	100,000
OFFICERS
OLIVER C. FU LLER, President	GARDN ER P. STICKN EY, Vice-President
FRED. C. BEST, Secretary	R. L. SMITH, Assistant Secretary
DIRECTORS
L. J. Petit, Chairman Frederick Kasten R.W. Houghton Oliver C. Fuller Herman W. Falk	Charles Schriber Custave Pabst Gardner P. Stickney
Isaac D. Adler	H. M. Thompson Patrick Cudahy

WISCONSIN
NEWS LETTER
By Mortimer I. Stevens
MILWAUKEE
of intended attacks upon the bank by burglars and hold-up men.
“If the membership signs are not displayed," says Secretary Bartlett, in the current number of the association’s organ, “The Tickler,” “it is considered a good sign by Mr. Burglar that he is on the track of a bank which can be attacked with far less chance of apprehension and he proceeds with his further investigation, while if these membership signs are displayed he proceeds to some other town where he does not incur the risk of having the association detective hot upon his trail.”
The association has just purchased a number of neat aluminum membership signs, 4 by 6 inches in size, bearing the following announcement :
“Member Wisconsin Bankers Association, 1910. This association will prosecute any forger, swindler or criminal operating on this bank.”
A neat chain is provided that these signs may be prominently displayed upon the front of the teller’s window and as fast as membership dues are paid for the present year, one of these signs will be sent by the secretary.
Big Sellers of Bonds
Gardner P. Stickney, vice-president of the Wisconsin Trust Company, is undoubtedly one of the best posted men in Milwaukee upon bonds and similar securities. Mr. Stickney is always optimistic and with reason. For the calendar year drawing to a close the sales of the Wisconsin Trust Company have been enormous in
of Wisconsin are paying much more tax per share under our present system than are owners of similar stock in national banks of adjoining states. It has been made clear to the Wisconsin Tax Commission by figures produced by the Wisconsin Bankers Association, that all owners of bank stock in this state are paying a higher rate of tax than is paid by owners of other forms of personal property, and yet the bankers have been unable to secure any remedy for this unfair condition.
Find Protection in Sign
Past experience has taught many members of the Wisconsin Bankers Association, and a number of bankers who are not as yet members, that the sign of the association prominently displayed in their bank acts as a preventive in case
Local business for the past week has shown a number of signs of increasing activity. Despite weather none too well suited for holiday trade, Milwaukee merchants have naught to complain of and sales are said to be in excess of the same period a year ago.
Grant Fitch, vice-president of the National Exchange Bank, speaks of the local situation as follows:
“A constant improvement in business circles is noted and our manufacturers report heavy receipts of orders in nearly all lines. Retail merchants have been doing a good business and in the main are well satisfied with the trade thus far this season. Collections generally are good. In some few cases they hang fire but improvement even in these delinquents is noticeable. Currency shipments to interior points in the state are holding up fairly well and Milwaukee banks this year have been well able to care for the demands for money occasioned by the heavy crop movement. A summing up of business conditions in the state may be expressed in the few words, ‘Business is good.’ ”
Present Method Claimed Unfair
Apropos of the proposed income tax for Wisconsin many claim that the present method of taxation of bank stocks is entirely unfair to owners of that form of investment, in that such property is assessed at a much higher valuation than almost any other form of personal property, and the Ingram bill, providing for a state income tax, does not offer any relief.
Owners of shares of stock in national banks